>> we do actually have people educated and educating watching the show. that comes as a great surprise to me. what else? >> tommy says i'm awake because my neighbor used the hot tub to make chilli and it exploded in the middle of the night. >> that tells you everything you need to know about new york jets fans, using their hot tub to make chilli for a football party. it's time for education. "morning joe" starts right now. we have gotten so used to failure. we tolerate failure in places like d.c. and central harlem, detroit. we tolerate that failure. we have to say to this nation, no more, there's no downside to failure. you can fail those kids for another 20 years. everybody keeps their job. >> it's about jobs. >> no business in america would

be in existence if it ran like. this we can't have our school system running like this. welcome to a special edition of "morning joe." we're live. do you know where we are, joe? >> i have no idea. >> education plaza. learning plaza. are you going to learn something, boys, today? >> no. willie, how were you in school? >> good, not great. >> i was bad, not good. >> you were? >> yeah. >> you'll learn something today. i think you might even teach a few things as well. joining us onset, the game-change boys, senior political analyst from "time" magazine and msnbc, mark halperin and "new york magazine's" john heilemann. we have a huge show ahead today. the secretary of education will be joining us, arne duncan. new jersey governor chris christie will be on the show and mayor cory booker of newark and tom brokaw, just to name a few joining us for "education

nation" here on learning plaza. >> willie, you know what happens when somebody steps on a dog's tail? they bark. your man, the governor of the garden state is upsetting people all over the place. and they're going crazy because he's just doing what he said he was going to do. and then we've got cory booker coming in, and what's happening in newark is exciting. new jersey politics, your hometown, home state. >> their relationship speaks to what we've said many times on this show, there's one issue where republicans and democrats seem to be able to get together. >> two presidents in a row, one republican and one democrat with a hunger to shake up the education establishment. we won't have the change we need without people like governor christie and the last two presidents who are demanding change. >> mika, you look across the political spectrum and really just about everybody supports

radical education reform except the teachers union. we had randi weingarten on last night, the head of the largest teacher's union and they're even starting the make movement toward reform because they know the day of failing schools, these dropout factories where people are just going to turn a blind eye to systemic failure is over. this is a moral crisis. it is immoral what america has been doing to its schoolchildren for a generation, and it's going to change. >> randy weingarten featured in the movie "waiting for superman," the special we did last night on that movie, she doesn't farewell. she's certainly not the hero and you could argue she was the villain in the movie. yet she say it is movie is a turning point for this nation which was, i think, big of her actually to come on board with us, talk about it and take all the shots.

>> president obama, he's had a rough couple years in a lot of ways. but when it comes to education reform, he's a trail blazer, and he really could make the difference. you talk whether it's jeb bush or a teacher in a classroom, everybody says this is remarkable time for us, where we could have consensus and change our education system. >> we'll hear from the president at 8:00 eastern time all across the board on all nbc platforms. so you'll get to see that right here on "morning joe," 8:00 eastern time. president obama being interviewed by matt lauer on the issue of education. >> willie, really quickly, the giants, what's going on? >> they stink. that would be mine analysis. they stink in every way imaginable. >> but the jets? >> the jets for all of our ribbing have looked great. >> they shut up and started playing football. last night it looked like a bleak, bleak -- another bleak night for the yankees, but they

pulled it out at the very end. >> they got some help from the red sox. we'll show how that happened. >> barnicle tweeted at 12:02 last night, this season is over, time to put the storm shutters on. >> staying up that late. >> porn curveball tweeting, by the way, at 12:02. >> barnicle tweeting is a terrible thought. >> actually depressing. let's do news. we'll start with politics. a lot going on. the white house and democratic leaders in congress are acknowledging that a vote on the aspiring bush tax cuts will likely not take place until after the midterm elections. nancy pelosi said that it could take place. but steny hoyer said yesterday he doubted congress would hold a vote because the legislation is stalled in the senate. regardless, both parties are using the delay as political ammunition before the midterms.

on "meet the press" mike pens and chris van holland argued over whether or not tax cuts for the nation's highest earners helped create jobs. >> i think it would be unconscionable for this congress to adjourn without giving the bipartisan majority in the congress that wants to extend all current tax relief an up or down vote, even if they found some way to just extend middle class tax relief would be an enormous tax increase in january on job creators in this country. higher taxes won't get people hired. >> this notion mike is talking about, that you need to have these tax breaks for the very top to create jobs and economic expansion, mike, those tax rates are in effect right now. they're in effect right now. i don't see all this job creation as a result of those tax cuts. they've been in effect for nine years. at the end of those nine years, we've seen losses of millions of jobs. so this story that somehow those breaks for the folks at the top

create these jobs is just nonsense. >> mark halperin, who blinked here on this vote? >> the democrats blinked because they don't have the votes. the president thinks it's substantively and politically correct to not extend the tax cuts. rather than having this as a huge benefit for the democrats, they can't have a vote. republicans are on the offensive on this issue which, again, is a litmus test and a great indication of their general strength right now. >> john heilemann, who doesn't help on the campaign trail? >> i think it actually in some limited cases, it's going to help democrats, but by and large it helps republicans. like mark said, the energy is all with them. >> did you see the lead story in "the new york times" yesterday? >> you brought that up. it's our next story coming up later. we can do it now. with the gop poised to make big ginns this november, "the new york times" is reporting

democratic candidates across the country are airing negative advertisements against republicans far earlier than ever before. in ohio congresswoman betty sutton calls her republican rival a dishonest used car -- stop it, willie, not funny -- used car salesman. that's not nice. in arizona congressman harry mitchell accuses his rival of being a predator real estate speculator who evicted a homeowner on the verge of saving his house just to make a buck. here in new york, representative michael ar curry introduces his challenger as a mail nir who got rich while his construction company overcharged taxpayers thousands. they're lashing out. what's happening. >> this is barack obama's democratic party. they have decided -- there's an old saying if you don't have the facts on your side, argue the law. if you don't have the law on your side, argue the facts. if you have neither on your side, argue. >> would you? >> it makes them look desperate. mark halperin, they are

desperate. i guess what's so stunning is two years after hope and change, this is barack obama's democratic party, and they have made a decision nationally. they can't win on the merits. "the new york times" is not a conservative newspaper. "the new york times" leading that the democrats' only hope is the politics of personal destruction. >> they said for a while they need the election not to be a referendum on the democrats, pelosi, reid and obama. they're going after the quality issues of parking tickets. it is the politics of personal destruction and it is something i hope the president gets asked about. they want to have a great debate and this is not a great debate. >> john, you covered obviously this election exhaustively. did you ever think two years from now that two years from barack obama's speech in grant park in 2008 that we would be reading a lead story in "the new

york times" that obama's democratic party nationally decided the only way they could hold power was through personal attacks? >> i think you would have to have been a very cynical person back in the fall, in november of 2008 to assume things would devolve this much. mark and i kind of are amazed. we never thought there would be a president more polarizing than bill clinton. then george w. bush proved to be more poll rising. you thefr thought there would be one more poll rising than george w. it turns out barack obama is. i think democrats feel like what they're doing is attacking what they see as the extremism of the republican party. rather than doing it on policy grounds, and this is where it's gone off the rails, it's become so deeply personal. if they were going to attack republicans for being way outside the mainstream on policy which is what we thought they were going to do a month ago or two months ago, that would be a lot more acceptable than seeing the way they're going after these people on personal grounds the last couple weeks.

>> can you believe that, mika? it's his party, his people making this decision to nationalize it on personal grounds. are you surprised? >> i am surprised. look, i think i've heard you say, though, in elections past that sometimes this works. i'm just saying. i'm not saying it's right. but can you imagine another time when it might have worked for a certain candidate in a certain race? >> that's not justification. >> i'm not justifying it. i'm asking politically what would you do at this point? >> i would never, i would never -- >> not you personally. >> this is always shortsighted. so what happens if they hold on by further dividing washington, d.c., by further dividing america? this is where we've gotten. they refuse to run on health care reform. their signature issue, that has

occupied a year and a half of political debate in washington, d.c. while americans were unemployed, but they will call a guy a used car salesman. this is about as pathetic and cynical a employee think as i've seen. republicans run sleazy campaigns. there's no doubt about it. democrats run sleazy campaigns with personal attacks. there's no doubt about it. i just don't think i've ever seen, mark halperin, this early a national party making the cynical choice that we can't run on issues, we can't run on our job performance. so we're going to try to destroy the other party. >> what can hey run on? tell me what they can run on. >> the courage of their agenda. they could say we passed health care, you may not feel the effects now, but it could be a good thing. i want to say one thing though. barack obama ran more negative ads than any presidential campaign in the history of the

country. so the notion this is somehow a reversal, they're more personal than the ads he ran against mccain. he spent hundreds of millions of dollars. >> i actually wrote that in my book and said that was one of the most stunning things, that while the national media praised him as an agent of hope and change, and really swallowed the story whole, that barack obama ran more negative, cynical, 30-second ads than any other politician in the history of american politics. >> we shouldn't necessarily be defined his democratic party is now doing this. it is early. i was in colorado over the weekend, wall-to-wall negative ads. it's like the last week of the election. >> just add one other thing. we keep saying this is barack obama's democratic party. it is, of course. but remember that obama did get elected in 2008 with a lot less support from the institutional democratic party than almost any other democratic nominee. he has never had a good

relationship with the rest of the party since he's been in washington. even if he wanted to change this, it's not clear the democrats on the hill would listen to him. it's to his discredit he's not trying. the truth si think most democrats in the him would be like, you haven't helped us, we'll do what we have to do to save our jobs. >> up next, the politico playbook. a new poll out shows how obama would match-up against sarah palin in a 2012 match-up. later, is $100 million enough to save newark public schools. governor chris christie and mayor cory booker join us to talk about that huge id case grant. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> joe and mika, do you have any kind words to say about sister margaret? this is our teacher appreciation area. all the anchors have put something on the wall. this is xheek's, my high school

math teacher, i failed repeatedly but she never gave up on you. >> she didn't. >> you did well, too. >> joe, i thought sister margaret was fictional. your tenth grade journalism teacher right there on the wall. we've been talking about the wealthier out here on the plaza. it's been a little damp. we've had drizzle up and down the eastern seaboard. won't be the greatest two days up and down the coast. you can see the forecast from atlanta to washington to new york. here is education plaza. we're right where the cross hairs are. looks like a batch of rain is starting to head over us. a look at the carolinas, a lot of heavy rain. we could see flooding over the next couple days. a two or three-day event on the east coast. the airports probably will have significant delays, especially with the thunderstorms around d.c. we needed this wet weather in the southeast. we didn't need it out here on the plaza. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. ♪

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it's 19 past the hour. time to take a look at the morning papers. we'll start with the dallas morning news. a statewide poll says texans back a stricter law against illegal immigration. most texans figure an arizona-like crackdown and many want to encourage the u.s. constitution discouraging women from entering the country to give birth. some airline fees up more than 50%. passengers are also encountering new types of fees including charges for priority boarding. also carry-on bags. on a flight that willie and i were on last week, actually breathing. a $25 surcharge. >> that's when you had a flight that actually left. there was a flight that we were on that didn't go. the "san francisco chronicle," charter schools defy the recession in the state's budget crisis.

89 more schools could open this fall with the help of donations and government aid. >> speaking of immigration, the first issue, what about colbert going on the hill when there's 15% real unemployment and steny hoyer, a more moderate democratic district, what nonsense. >> what did they think was going to happen? he submitted his written statement which had nothing to do with what he actually said. >> he wanted to also submit the results of his colonoscopy. >> people were shocked and stunned that stephen colbert to do that. >> why would they do that? >> we'll run it. >> as will ferrell said in "wedding crashers," what are they doing? >> we'll run it. let's go to politico. we'll get to jim vandehei, the executive editor of plate co-with a look at the playbook. you guys have pretty surprising new polls from your political

battleground poll. let's go through them real quickly. does president obama deserve re-election? >> only 38% at this point said he deserves re-election. 44% said they've vote to oust him. 15% said they'd consider voting for somebody else. i think that speaks to his overall weakness right now, especially with independent voters. it was really amplified with the independent vote. people still like him at the personal level. they're not pleased with his policies, in particular health care, which did quite poorly in this poll, both with voters in general and with independents. >> joe, are you surprised by that number? >> no. but this is really about trying to predict who is going to win the super bowl two years from now. just a little-known fact because everybody knows i'm a policy walk and a poll walk. this week end i was looking at historical poll trends. and barack obama's poll numbers are above where bill clinton's were at this point in '94 and where ronald reagan's was in

'82. >> good to keep things in perspective. >> that's what i'm all about, willie. >> you are a big thinker, keeping it real. jobs, the big issue for this fall. let's look at some of the numbers there jim. who do you trust more to create jobs. we'll start with the ones that has republicans versus the president? >> this is what i thought was the most interesting findings. when you match the president against republicans in congress, republicans had a 10-point advantage in ability to create new jobs. when you match him up with congressional democrats, democrats did slightly better than republicans. this is very unusual. usually obama out performs congressional democrats when you match them up. >> what does that tell you, jim? >> i think people are frustrated in general with the economy and the kind of holding obama responsible at this point. i think they're looking for something else, someone else who can create jobs. you can see the weakness in particular in the south and the mountain states among independent voters. >> that's really bad. this is job number one for the

president according to all polls, and the republicans who are a formless, unpopular mass coming in at 26% are beating by 11 points. >> this is i think the best example of how he's lost control of his narrative. he must be seen by the american peep of getting um every day and fighting to figure out ways to keep jobs. this poll suggests he's losing that battle. >> jim, one more the fantasy match-up for 2012, alabama versus palin. >> obama would beat her 50 to 42. 50% of people surveyed said they are less likely to vote for palin based on her actions since she stepped down as governor of alas kachlt her numbers are getting worse and not better. >> mika, only 31% of americans said they'd even consider voting for her. she's selling a lot of books. it's what we talk about all the

time. you can go out and say things and sell books and drive up ratings, but electorally you lose middle america a lot of times. she has lost the middle of america. >> for those who feel that sarah palin maybe scares them a little bit, those numbers are a little soothing. >> are you soothed, willie? >> i'm utterly soothed. >> you still think she's running? >> i don't think she can help herself. >> only nine behind the president despite the fact that people -- >> is that not such a big gap? i thought it would be smaller. >> nine points? make it up like that. >> single digits, she's in striking distance. >> i've said it before. i'll say it again. she's unelectable. kids, write it down. jim vandehei, thanks so much. up next, our look at education in the united states continues with tom brokaw who will be right here with us on the set. it's the game that had braille lynn edwards going from

perp walk to touchdown dance just days after his arrest, braylon edwards, a sunday night hero. highlights straight ahell. keep it right here on "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] if you have type 2 diabetes,

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29 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." a quick look at the news now. comedian stephen colbert's testimony at a congressional hearing on immigration reform last week is getting mixed reviews. colbert was invited to appear before the committee because he spent a day last month picking vegetables on a farm in upstate new york for his show. okay. colbert's written statement, which he submitted before the hearing appeared straightforward. but when it was his turn to speak on friday, the talk show host slipped into character. take a listen. >> this is america. i don't want a tomato picked by a mexican. i want it picked by an american, then sliced by a gaud mall land and served by a venezuelan in a spa where a chilean gives me a brazilian. because my great grandfather did not travel across 4,000 miles of the atlantic ocean to see this country overrun by immigrants. he did it because he killed a man back in ireland.

that's the rumor. i don't know if that's true. i'd like to have that stricken from the record. >> that's funny. but that's for his show. that's not him on tv. >> it's a different platform. comedy central, capitol hill. >> it's stupid, stupid, stupid. >> if you're sitting at 22% approval and you're congress and 15% real unemployment, do you invite somebody at this stage -- >> please crawl back on the front because i don't -- scroll back. i want to read this to you again, idiots. first of all, here is the reason they asked him, because he spent a day last month picking vegetables on a farm in upstate new york for his show. >> we're the idiots? i think congress might be the idiots. >> what is wrong with people? who are these people who are on those 21% who approve of people in congress. >> steny hoyer who is -- i

wouldn't say the swing district, baugh tougher district for democrats to win than nancy pelosi, he's worried for good reason. can you imagine being in the south or the midwest as a democrat fighting for your life and this going on on capitol hill? >> look what the sensible speaker of the house said. >> here she s nancy pelosi. >> incredible. >> do you think it was appropriate that he testified today? >> of course i think it's appropriate. he's an american. he has a point of view. he can bring attention to an important issue like immigration. i think it's great. >> i think his testimony was not appropriate. i think it was an embarrassment for mr. colbert more than the house. >> he should have not have been called? >> i don't know about whether he was called, but what he had to say was not the way it should have been said. >> what were you saying?

>> if the republican speaker of the house and a republican majority leader disagreed on something like this, i think people would be paying attention. congress, there's more important things to dothan have a comedian come and testify. maybe i'm wrong. >> no, you're not. >> you're just as humorless as steny hoyer apparently. >> that's the knock, is that people say you're humorless, you don't get it. if you're a democrat and you want to retain the majority, you have just given republicans a punch line in the deep south and the midwest where democrats are already in trouble. >> if they were going to give a reason for having him on, how about because he's funny and we're adding a little levity. >> i don't know how steny hoyer could say that he is shocked, that stephen colbert came to the house and made a mockery of the proceedings. his obligation is to his audience. that's what he did. >> he said in advance he was coming in character. >> next up, carrot top.

>> or gallagher with watermelons. the jets in the sunday nighter taking on miami. wide receiver braylon edwards didn't start the game. he had to sit a whole quarter after being arrested for dui earlier this week. he got into the acted right away. mark chan sez in the third quarter hits edwards to slip the defender, goes 67 yards down the sideline for a touchdown and he is happy about it. there you go. jets up 21-17. let's go to the end of the game, fourth quarter, ladainian tomlinson punches it in from one yard out. jets take an eight-point lead with under two to play. the dolphins march back. they find brandon marshal, nice move to get away from the defender. takes it to the jets 11-yard line. the dolphins have a chance to punch it in. fourth and goal, last chance, and he tries to find po san know, he's's picked off.

jets win 31-23. they're now 2-1. >> why did the guy busted for dui, could have killed somebody, why did he get to play in this game? >> he had to sit for a whole quarter, that's 15 minutes. >> wow. how pathetic. that's all they have? >> the jets didn't do anything either. they could have done something. let's watch michael vick back in action. eagles taking on the jaguars. starting again this week was mr. vick, proving he was the right time over kevin cobb. he throws a bullet here to desean jackson. he takes it 61 yards for a touchdown. eagles blow out jacksonville 28-3. saints and falcons, atlanta with a little luck on their side in new orleans against the super bowl champs. >> how do you miss that? >> matt hartley made a field goal missed a 29-yarder that would have won the game.

that opened the door nor matt bryant to put it away. falcons beat the champs 27-24. the sunday night baseball game, yankees and red sox in the last game of their three-game set. top of the ninth, yankees were leading 2-1. they bring in march an know rif veerp rah to close the door. he couldn't get the job done. red sox scored two off rivera to take a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. can't know ties it at three. extra innings. bases loaded, bottom of the tenth, 3-1 count. the winning run is walked in. the rays also lost to the yankees now just a half game out in the al east. >> congratulations. that was a rough weekend. it's been a rough stretch for yankees? >> they've been terrible. they'll be lucky to win the division. up next, tom brokaw joins us

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we haveall done too much about focusing on bad teachers. what teachers have told us is that focus instead on the tools and conditions we snead to do our jobs. make sure that tenure is not ever construed as a job for life. you cannot say that you support removing ineffective teachers when then i fire ineffective teachers and you slap me with the lawsuits and the grievances. you can't say the problem with charter schools is they only serve some of the kids when, in fact, you're advocating for caps

on those effective charter schools. you can't say we want more resources to go to kids when, in fact, in this city joel klein is spending $100 million a year for teachers that you saw in the movie who aren't teaching. i get why that's good for adults. explain why that's good for children. >> that was many moments in our special last night on "waiting for superman," a movie everybody should see, that that audience saw last night and left everybody in tears. it looks at the state of education in this country and it is not a pretty picture. joining us now nbc news' tom brokaw. >> i am. i've been working on this subject for the last 40 years, i've done national studies looking at the inner city schools and the suburban schools. i've within waiting for this moment to come, not just because of the education nation on nbc.

but across the country there's a big ripple effect. people understand in this new global economy, smaller world, more people competing against india and china, this saz important to us as ships were to the dutch, as military power was to the ritz, as conquering lands was to the romans. this is the defining issue of our time. there are good teachers out there who belong to the union who are doing heroic work. where i do with randi weingarten is it took them far too long within that union to acknowledge how they were going to deal with teachers who were simply ineffective. it was kind of show up and stay warm and collect your pay and pension. that was unfair to young people who came into the system, didn't get tenure, but would leave after three years because they didn't want to work in that kind of an environment where a lot of people who had tenure weren't doing the same -- making the same kind of effort they were. >> she's saying the right

things, randi. and if we're going to move the ball down the field and get this fixed t unions are going to have to work with people like jeffrey canada. at the same time, as michelle rhee brought up last night, her union also paid $100 million in a mayor's race to destroy a reform candidate -- >> we'll have mayor fenty on tomorrow, by the way. >> and fought reform every step of the way. >> and that's a big issue. a lot of that is generational, by the way. a lot of the teachers have been in the system for a long time, have gotten accustomed to where they were. there are a lot of those teachers who are doing very good work. there are a lot of them who are just kind of showing up and waiting for their time to play out. too many school systems, you can get tenure after three years which makes it almost impossible to fire you. there's almost no other entity

in american life in which you get effectively a full-time job guarantee after just three years. >> john legend said last night he considered this to be a civil rights issue. al sharpton said the same thing. >> by the way, it's a national security issue. we have to think about this. this is as important to us as having a strong military because this is what we're competing with. >> willie? >> i think the other side to look at, too, is we're focusing on teachers and unions. if you talk to a lot of teachers and friends of mine who are teachers, they say i can do all the work i can in this eight and nine-hour day and when they go home, a lot of the work is undone. this is a big bigger problem than we're focusing on. >> i've been working with a little school in the south bronx, i won't single it out. it's an elementary school. the wonderful public school administrators and teachers that are doing heroic work, really. but the entire neighborhood are single parents. the mothers are working two jobs. they have one young man who says we haven't gotten a note from

your mother about the school lunch program. it turns out he had been living by himself at the age of 9. she farmed him out to the grandmother. they didn't turn her in. they found a way to work with her to make it happen. that's also part of the reality. the fact of the matter is it's going to require the best efforts of everybody. birn said to me when i was talking about the legacy of the baby boomer generation, you know, the boomers are now at an age when they really ought to have as their final mission public service. what better way for them to serve their country again than to go into schools, retired bankers, economists, lawyers, retired teachers, go out there and help. >> desperately needed as well. >> tom, you said you've been studying this and working on it for 40 years. what are the ingredients now that give this a chance? >> attention. i think people are paying attention and get it.

what happened is at a certain stage in american life in the urban areas, people of a certain age pulled their kids out of public schools and sent them to private schools. didn't have any connection to them except paying property taxes. now people are paying attention. it's because we have to. 320,000 young indian students have left india to study in the west to go back to india. they no longer stay here. china, same numbers. we're competing in a different way than we were in the past. and the skill set is much different now than it used to be. mr. martin, i think that was his name, were talking right now and a graduate, he would say not plastics, but science and math. that's the future. >> listening to randi weingarten, and i've really been trying to find her quotes and her interviews across the board. i look for exactly what it is she's sayi that she's doing.

several times yesterday on "meet the press" and on the special we did last night, she talked about the steps they were taking to improve teacher performance. it often meant helping teachers that weren't doing well, spending time re-educating them. >> she said the same thing that michelle said, when they both saw -- any teacher you talk to will say, look, in the first three years you're a c. you step into that classroom. you think you know how to teach, but it takes about three years to figure that out. what randi weingarten is saying, we now have a system in place to help the teachers at the beginning and help them with they're valuation mid course as well to correct them, if you will, if they're not doing well. they have a new contract with the city of detroit. i think randi weingarten who has been a very effective leader for the teachers also now understands there is a new mood in the country and the union has to step up here and be a lot

more flexible. >> how would you characterize the moon at this point, joe? you've been out covering this story and in the schools and talking to both sides. we were looking at both sides last night and what does it boil down to? >> i think what it boils down to is the fact, and tom has seen a sea change over the past year or two, you have two sides of debate. on one side of the debate is the teacher's union and their allies, and on the other side is the rest of america. i've never seen a debate so one-sided, an important debate so one-sided as this debate, where you have barack obama, al sharpton, newt gingrich, the republican establishment in washington, d.c., arne duncan y cory booker, people on both sides agreeing dramatic change needs to come. the only reactionary force in this debate are the teachers unions. tom, i think in tend, like

everybody always says, it's a cliche, but only nixon could go to china. only obama can stand up to the union and save our schools. >> and that's beginning to happen. what i really am encouraged by, and the these two guys know it as well as anyone, this is one issue in which people are beginning to talk to each other in more civil tones. if you look at the discussion in the last 24 hours on this set last night, "meet the press," and we'll see it in the next 48 hours or so, there are lots of divergent interests here. but at the same time they're willing to come to a common platform and try to work it out because it touches every life in america. when i was going to school 100 years ago, it was one size fits all. you go in and do your math tables and memorize history and then get out of there and there would be a job. that's not the case anymore. i spent part of this week with bill gates, this past week. he's spending half a billion dollars of the gates foundation

money to measure what makes an effective teacher. we have not had that before. they've got videos in classrooms that are cooperating, and teachers are evaluating each other. it's not one size fits all. what works in a classroom in new york city may not work in wichita, for example. they have to have the flexibility and adaptability to find these new teaching techniques and go about them. >> here's hoping we're at a turning point. tom brokaw, thank you so much. coming up, education secretary arne duncan will be on the show. women lee, what do you have? >> what kind of introduction is that? >> i'm sorry. >> saturday night was the season premier of s avndl and yes, the real david paterson faced off with the phony david paterson who has mocked him relentlessly for two years. we'll show you what happened. ♪

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with a thirty thousand dollar share of the runaway national debt. our government is now taking over the choices we once made in life. there's mourning in america. under the leadership of president obama our country is fading and weaker and worse off. his policies were a grand experiment, policies that failed. this november, let's choose a smaller, more caring government, one that remembers us. lord of the carry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price.

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we're out here on learning plaza. time for a dose of the news you can't use. as you know if you've watched "snl" over the last couple years, they've done a running david paterson sketch where they've killed him without mercy. two nights ags go on the season premier, mr. paterson himself, the real governor of new york showed up to face off with the guy who has been playing him. >> stop, stop, stop. [ cheers and applause ] >> say, i see you're still sporting the beard. >> yes, aim. >> i shaved that off a year ago. are you blind? >> touche. >> give governor paterson credit for being a good sport. he was a good sport. coming up on the top of the hour, secretary of education arne duncan, new jersey governor chris christie and newark, new

jersey, mayor cory booker are working the do great things for education. we'll be right back on "morning joe." ♪ where'd you learn to do that so well. ♪ ♪ where'd you learn to do that so well. ♪ the new cadillac srx. the cadillac of crossovers. cadillac. the new standard of the world. you want to replant a forest? maybe you want to rebuild homes for those in need? or, maybe you want to help improve our schools?

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the lottery in the movie is a met tar for. my kids have won the lottery by the nature of who my family is. this isn't america, the idea that one kid can have a great education and one can't. the winners and losers. we as a country have to get together and have a con sigs and say how do we let every kid win. welcome back to "morning joe." just about the top of the hour. on deck, mayor cory booker of newark, new jersey. joining us now, the secretary of education, arne duncan. good to have you at learning plaza. >> amazing what you have done. this is a huge deal for the country. thank you so much. >> a great conversation. we're hoping that this along with several other things happening right now are a turning point form this country? >> i think we're oobs lut lit hitting the tipping point. you're helping to awaken the country to the huge possibility we can get dramatically better. >> very exciting. the teacher's town hall meeting

where you had young teachers. tom was talking about how it was generational, young teachers in the town hall meeting saying i'm more interested in educating kids and helping kids than i am in automatically getting tenure. there is a battle going on inside the teacher's union. i think that's a critical first step because most of the country where the president is and arne duncan is, they know our schools must be reformed. >> on our panel last night, what you were looking at is video from our special on "waiting for superman, a movie everybody should see. our audience got to see a special screening before we went on the air at 8:00 eastern last night. literally everybody in the room was crying. >> it was unbelievably moving. willie, we went to see it last week. saw the screening last week. and at the end of the movie, everybody in the audience was

tearing up, sniffing. it's a real tragedy. as i walked outgoing up broadway from the screening, my stomach was sick. i really had -- just knowing that all around us -- this wasn't a movie that you could sort of turn off, go home and forget about. this is the reality for too many children in this country. >> well, it personalized it deeply as any good movie does. the one character, daisy who is so wide-eyed and realistic said, of course, i'm going to be a doctor. as we get through, she has to cross her fingers to hope her name comes up in a lottery ball for the opportunity to become that doctor. she loses that, of course. as david said in the town hall last night, it's a metaphor that education has come down in many cases to a ball coming out of a bin. that's just not good enough. secretary duncan and others are looking to change that. >> let me get to our first news story which is related here and

then the secretary again. the need for this week's "education nation" is underscored by a new nbc news "wall street journal" poll which shows a majority of americans are pessimistic about the state of america's education system. 58% think we need major changes or a complete overhaul. 36% think minor changes will do a trick. 5% think the schools work well. converting these ops to letter grades. a combined 70% gave public schools either a c or a d. who do people blame for the problems with public education? 53% of those polled said elected officials are part of the problem. 50% said parents. 41% said teachers unions. 36% said principals and administrators and 30% said teachers. yesterday on "meet the press" d.c. school chancellor michelle rhee weighed in on the challenge

to fire ineffective teachers. >> we said it's no longer going to be acceptable for teachers who are ineffective to stay in the classroom. we've gotten a tremendous amount of pushback from that. a lot of what you heard from citizens was, well, they fired teachers. what you didn't hear is we didn't tire teachers tore mean or because we were callous and didn't care. we wanted to remove them because we think our children deserve better. >> michelle rhee's story in "waiting for superman" was particularly depressing. was she on the right track in washington, d.c.? >> the fact of the matter is, under michelle and mayor fenty's leadership, the d.c. public schools are significantly better today than three years ago. d.c.'s public schools were a national disgrace for decades. it's amazing to me in our nation's capital we allowed so many children to languish in horrendous learning situations for so long. they have a long way to go. the schools are better today there than a couple years ago.

>> michelle tried to shake it up even more. she tried to reward teachers who do well in in classrooms without punishing those who don't because that was the only way to pass it and the unions said no. >> we have to professionalize the profession. >> was that shocking to you, that the unions said no? >> at the end of the day 80% of teachers voted for this contract. teachers were more than open to this. one thing we haven't done enough at all in the country is reward great teachers and encourage them to go to historically underserved communities, inner city, urban, rural. in education, talent matters. we have to reward excellence and supported those in the middle and those where it's simply not working. they need to find something else. >> not to stay on michelle rhee, but it's been in the news she's probably going to get fired. based on what michelle rhee has done in washington, d.c., should she retain her job? >> what i've said, one of the huge problems in urban education

is the superintendent's turnover. when i left the chicago public schools to come to washington, i had been there 7 1/2 years. i was the longest serving superintendent in the country. the average is 2.4 years. i would love to see michelle rhee have a ten-year run. look where chance have a great chance to have a great run. no business would turnl over their ceo every 2.4 years. can't sustain it. this works is hard, it takes time. you have to stay with it day after day after day. >> we keep hearing the teachers union saying they want to help bad teachers get better. i guess the question is, why would they bother to work on that and spend on that when there's so many at this point that need to be weeded out. how do you get around that? >> i think, again, we have to professionalize the profession. we need to make education and teachers the most revered profession in the country. i think great teachers are the unsung heroes in our society. we have to reward excellence,

support those in the middle. and those in the bottom, we have to move them out and do that with a sense of urgency. over the next couple years we have a chance to recruit a million new teachers to come into education. our ability to bring in great talent is going to shape public education for the next 25 or 30. it's a generational shift. >> secretary duncan, i have so many young people i talk to who want to get into teaching. they see three years in, i guess a third of teachers drop out. largely that is because they're the ones who are cut because when you have the older teachers, obviously the tenure, the younger ones, even if they're better and more dynamic are the ruones that lose out. how do you change that? >> we'll launch this national teacher campaign to bring in this next generation of great talent. to me it is a call to service. we're fooirting for our country's economy. in a tough economy we have millions of jos that go unfilled because we don't have an educated workforce, enough people with those skills. if we want this country to thrive again, we need this to

become the profession that every smart, talented, committed hard-working person says i want to serve my country, i want to go and teach. that's what we have to do. >> what if they say i'm the first round of cuts. the next time they're budget cuts in the school district, they'll get rid of me because they can't get rid of the tenured teacher. >> you have a number of districts that have, wlether d.c., new haven, philadelphia, detroit is doing interesting things. folks around the country starting to come back with innovative contracts where talent is getting rewarded, not run out of the system. >> mr. secretary, chancellors matter, governors matters, too. florida, lots of big states, your home state of illinois. what do you expect from new governors come january that work with you and their cities to get improvement? >> we anticipate working together in a bipartisan manner, whoever ones there. out can't have a strong state without great public schools or a strong city without great

public schools. this is in everybody's self-interest. the status quo, we have almost a million students dropping out every year. there are no good jobs for high school dropouts, no good jobs if you only have a high school diploma. some form of higher education has to be the goal. four-year universities, two-year community colleges, trade and technical training. all of us have to work together in the best interest of children. >> secretary duncan, you have an incredible effect and race to the top. everyone acknowledges that. with a small amount of money you've leveraged a huge amount of reform. the question is what comes next? you've had two rounds. it is a small amount of money. how do you perpetuate that kind of system of reform, driving entrepreneurship around the country from the federal level. >> the momentum has been extraordinary. 36 states raised standards. you know in many states, standards got dummied down. we were lying to children an parents, not doing what was

right form education and those states or for children, but it helped politicians look good. that's changing. even body is moving in a different direction. in many, many states we have removed restrictions to innovative schools, charter schools and other schools that could help us get to the next level. when i came to washington, i learned we have a bunch of states that have laws on the books, it was against the law to link teacher evaluation with student achievement. all those laws are gone. what's the next step? we have to implement and be very thoughtful in getting great talent to underserved communities and continue to raise the bar and have great assessments behind that. the next place we're challenging the country and this is hard and tough and controversial, we have to turn around those chronically underperforming schools, the dropout factories where 60%, 70% of students are leaving schools for the streets. that's economically unsustainable, morally unacceptable. we're putting $4 billion behind the bottom 5% of schools.

if we can turn those around over the next couple years, we change those children's lives and those communities forever. >> we talked to tom brokaw about the consensus that we're coming the as americans, the need for dramatic reform in our schools, especially k-12. tom said he had been covering this issue for 40 years and he had never seen an opportunity like now. there is a consensus across the board. it seems the only people standing in the way of school reform are unions. the education establishment. the question i here time and time again is will the president have the guts to stand up to one of the most powerful groups in america, one of his closest allies. willie? >> i think you've seen him fight every day for children. he's laid the table for children in this country. you never would have seen the massive amount of change without his moral leadership and him being willing to spend political

capital. we all have to move. superintendents have to move. school boards have to move. politicians have been a huge part of this problem, dummying down standards. that's not unions doing that. that's politicians doing that. our department of education has been part of the problem. we're trying to become this engine of innovation. rather than pointing fingers, we have to step up. parents and students have to do more. everyone has to move. >> i understand that. it wouldn't be realistic for not to say that teachers unions have not been the chief impediment to school reform. have they not? >> some have absolutely been part of the problem. i always point out diane donohue, the head of the n efrnlthsza in delaware, an absolute profile in leadership, courage. she's willing to do the right thing by children. we announced last week, joe, over $400 million in teacher incentive funds to 60 school districts around the country. this is rewarding teachers for excellent work. this is awarding teachers who take on tough assignments. those are unions around the

country saying we want to work in this way. a huge spectrum. some unions are part of the solution. some are in the middle. some are slowing us down. we have to continue to profile those making a difference, we're seeing break-through contracts in pittsburgh, new haven, philadelphia, d.c. we need to reward that. over the next two years we need to reform all those contracts that don't make sense for adults or students. we need every state to eliminate those barriers and continue to raise the bar. five years from now, we need to have the best teacher workforce in the world. we'll work on that national campaign of starting this week. ten years from now, we need to lead the world in the percent of college graduates. that's the game plan. that's where we're going. we'll be talking about this more with secretary duncan coming up. also new jersey governor chris christie on deck. ahead at 8:00 eastern we will hear from president obama himself in a special event across all nbc universal platforms. and next, as i said, governor

chris christie and also newark mayor cory booker will join us. how will a $100 million boost help the schools? we'll talk about that with them. first here is bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning, mika. in front of one of the helpful tools of the teachers and getting their classrooms in the computer screen there. i decided to tell you heavy rain was coming soon but a word to the wise here in new york city, especially out here in the plaza. we have thunderstorms about to arrive. you can see them over staten island and around brooklyn. that will slide this way. it will be an interesting scene in ten minutes from now. heavy rain up and down the eastern seaboard. look at the carolinas, getting drenched this morning. outer banks around georgia, a lot of heavy rain. the forecast, a cloudy, dreary day up and down the eastern seaboard. significant airport delays, a little windy for you. in f you're waking up with us, you look great from chicago to

dallas. on the west coast, 104 in l.a. near record highs in phoenix and vegas. in ten minutes it's going to pour out here. we'll see what that looks like after the commercial. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ female announcer ] it can creep up on you. dry skin. that's why there's lubriderm® daily moisture. it contains the same nutrients naturally found in healthy skin. skin absorbs it better and it lasts for 24 hours. later gator. lubriderm. your moisture matched.

so mr. zuckerberg, what role are you playing in all of this? are the rumors true? will there be a check offered at some point? >> i've committed to starting the startup education foundation whose first project will be $100 million challenge grant. >> $100 million. [ cheers and applause ] >> yo, yo, yo, yo! >> that was great. >> willie, as we discussed before, it's the end of "oceans 12." andy garcia has no choice but to

go on oprah. even george clooney cries at the end. >> what we just saw on our favorite show, "oprah" was founder and ceo of facebook mark zuckerberg making the announcement about his $100 million donation. here with us chris christie and cory booker, our friends. >> i hope i get that friend comment. >> mika and i are radical. we have republicans friends and democratic friends. >> but we're your favorite republican and democratic friends? >> you're right. >> you guys are doing a remarkable job together. it should be a model for america. let's talk about what happened in newark. this is great news, isn't it, mr. mayor. >> extraordinary news. i think it has the whole community excited and energized. the reality is we know money

does not make a difference unless it's matched with commitment. people make a difference. i think the governor has given the opportunity to step up for education. set high levels of accountability. we in newark know it's not a community standard that we have such low number of our kids reading at grade level in the third and fourth grade. this is our opportunity. this is newark's moment. what will define our success will not be the incredible generosity of mark zuckerberg. that's an amazing tool in our tool box, but it will be the architects which has to be the people of the city of newark. >> mr. governor, how exciting. it shines a great light on new jersey. it shine it is light on education, so positive. >> we started this at the beginning of our term, taking on the fights that have been taking on. >> you guys are working together, shoulder to shoulder.

>> thrills our parties that cory and i work together. we've been friends for a long time. we agree on so many things that our view is, especially on the issue of education, that we need to take this on and we need to take it on directly and we need to do it for the kids of our state. >> again, doing it and working together, democrats and republicans, mr. mayor, in this day and age, that doesn't happen. it is so pathetic that adults get an ideological corners, scream and yell, call each other names and forget about the kids who have been left behind in newark. >> the tug of war in our nation going back and forth is not helping anything. and the people getting lost are the folks that are most important. the biggest national security threat in united states of america is the failure of our children in classrooms every single day. a global, knowledge-based economy, america cannot be number one in the world economically if we're number 20 or 25 educationally. >> what does this $100 million

do? obviously there have been a lot of budget cuts. does it fill in that gap? does $100 million just get us back to where we were in new jersey or move us forward? >> it's paradigm shifting. don't think about it in terms of the budget. we spent nearly a billion dollars a year on public education. what this is this money is unrestricted, gives us flexibility to do things differently and use that money to force change. so what i see this as is an 'em tus for change and catalyst for change. mark's involvement helps with that. we've been on the offense on this issue you know since the day i got into office. cory and i have been talking about it since after my election. this $10 million and the money that will come after that, which we'll have more announcements later today will be an impetus for that change. >> how exciting that you have citizens stepping up, mark

zuckerberg. of course bill gates has done god's work on education. what else? >> we're at a moment, this is a national movement. wlit's hollywood, silicon valley and mark and others stepping up, whether republican governors and democratic mayors, all of us are saying status quo is simply not good enough. >> that's happening in washington, too. republicans that may go after the president on so many issues say on this issue, on this most important issue they are shoulder to shoulder. >> politics, ideology, egos have to go to the side. somewhere to do better for children. when you think about almost one in two of the children in newark not graduating from high school, what chance in life do they have? they have no chance. they deserve better. these guys, putting ego and politics aside, they're going to do it. what does the public have to do? two things. education has to become the voting rights issue. people as they go to the polls in november, they have to vote

for who is supporting education and reform. education has been fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth on the list of things when they vote. this has to rise to the top of the list. secondly, everyone has to get involved. you have to tutor, mentor, coach, volunteer. out can't drive by schools and say those poor children don't have an education. everyone has to step up and find a way to make a difference. >> i wish you were right, joe, that all of us agree on this. but i watched your show last night. and i'm still waiting for randi weingarten to answer a question. you asked her, what has the union done wrong to contribute to this? i watched it live at eight. i watched the replay. i'm still waiting for the answer. listen. not all of us are there yet. we're having these fights in new jersey all the time of the teachers union not being willing to step up an acknowledge that change needs to be made. >> not putting kids first. it's still about the adults.

>> it's worse than that. it's not just about adults. it's about their money. that's all it's about, their money. they have to decide they want to take this fight on that way. i was waiting for randi to answer your question once and she didn't. that's emblematic of what's happening in the teacher's union movement. i agree, secretary duncan agrees, the president has provided great leadership on this issue, but until they come along either willingly or being dragged along, this isn't going to change. >> mika, one thing about this show that we do that most other shows don't do because we don't have a teleprompter, and i'm actually too stupid to actually keep things to myself, is we tell the truth about what goes on off camera. and i know randi and i like randi. i know she's got a very difficult job right now trying to bridge the gap of what was and what will be, but what the governor just said is what we've heard 100 times since last night. they didn't get any straight

answers. >> the disconnect. we were trying to connect the disconnect. question for the mayor. there is a possibility that michelle rhee might be looking for a new job. would you like her to head up your school system? >> first of all, i think she's a warrior woman, wonder woman. every time i go i call her an american hero. i want to conduct a community process in newark. we're a city that, if you allow the people to lead, we're going to make a difference. i'm not going to impose a name now, a person now. i want to go through for the next month or two to find the best person. that's a skeptical look. and i see it. >> sounds a little bit like randi. >> you learned from randi last night. >> mr. secretary, became me out. >> this is good. you want to keep her in washington. you'd be lucky to have her in newark. that's a good sign. >> that $100 million is not going to change a thing in newark unless the community seps up and says we deserve better. i think what he's doing that is

so smart is those citizens, those parents desperately want something better for their children, they have to be at the table, part of the conversation. they should be pushing him. they should be more radical on reform than the mayor. he's trying to put in place a process that's going to empower the parents of "waiting for superman," he's going to put them in the driver's seat and say we have this moment of opportunity, what are we going to do collectively? mark is not going to do it form silicon valley. what is the community going to do to better schools? i think he's going about it the right way. >> i think the secretary of education provided the mayor of newark a lifeline so he didn't have to answer that question. >> changing the subject. >> wave after wave of reform in america, different plans, different programs, different people. it's time that americans step up in a way that we haven't before. we've allowed our country to descend past number five out of the top ten. we're trailing the globe in terms of educational excellence.

what i believe is that newark, new jersey can help lead america back. somewhere to let newark lead and not let people drop in from outside and point the way. >> willie, you're a native of new jersey. for a long time new jersey has been a punch line in so many jokes. isn't it exciting over the past year that new jersey has been on the cutting edge of so many debates on where america needs to go in the future and it certainly happened with governor christie, it's happening again on education. >> i heard from a lot of people what a proud day it was to see governor christie, mayor booker sitting there on "oprah" doing good things and giving new jersey a good name. i think it speaks, governor, to the energy that secretary duncan is talking about. we asked tom brokaw why this moment is different. he said because there's attention. but i would add energy. i've had friends watching whether this movie or you guys on "oprah" or the conversations on nbc saying i've got to do something. how do you seize on that so the moment doesn't pass? a lot of people right now are

excited but they're going to watch the jets game next week and forget about it. >> you can still watch the jets game. that's fine. we have to continue to lead and speak out and speak the truth. if they continue to hear from leaders like, give the teachers the tools to allow effective evaluation. i don't know what the hell that means. we know what this is about. this is about ineffective teachers are being protected by the union to stand in front of classrooms and waste years of children's lives. until we change that and reward good teachers with more pay and penalize bad teachers by ending their careers, we're not going to change this. i'm going to continue to speak out very forcefully about that. and when people hear the truth about this issue, that's what motivates them. the thing that "waiting for superman" does for them is motivates them because they know it's the truth. >> speaking of forcefully, we've got to show you this clip. we'll ask mayor booker if he's ever done this with an unruly

protester at a town hall meeting. run the clip. >> hey, hey listen. you know what? you want to yell, yell at me. but don't give her a hard time. we're here talking about the future of the state of california and the future of our country. and you know what? you know what? let me tell you this. you know what? it's people who raise their voices and yell and screen like you that are dividing this country. we're here to bring this country together, not to divide it. >> give me a hug. cory booker. i got to ask you, buddy, could you pull that off without the frame of a left tackle of the new york jets? would you dare to do that? >> first of all, you don't ascend to newark politics unless you can make it in the trenches. truth of the matter is, and this

is where i appreciate the governor, is if we start putting the truth out there, everybody should get angry. you should get angry that principal contracts in newark require our principals to work 29 hours a week as i was told by some of our education leaders. "wall street journal" had an article about a super teacher that was outpacing his peers, but when it came time to budget cuts, he was the one fired. the best teacher went first. when people in america realize the facts of what's going on in education, there will be more anger. time not misplaced rage, it will be directed like a laser beam. >> mr. secretary, this is exciting. >> this is a movement. you guys are helping to set the stage. the governor, the mayor, everyone has to rally. somewhere to do better for our children. from the president on down, everybody is saying this country

deserves better than what we've done. we have to do it now. if we don't do it, it is not going to happen. >> governor, thank you. new jersey governor chris christie, newark mayor cory booker and secretary arne duncan. >> thank you so much for your work. it's inspired. no laughing matter, stephen colbert's in-character testimony before congress. >> would you do that in new jersey? >> no chance. we'll be right back. recently, sharp made a major leap forward

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[ male announcer ] with xerox, you're ready for real business. [ male announcer ] with xerox, i but i justve my 5 employcan't afford it.ance, i have diabetes. i didn't miss a premium payment for 10 years. and i'm worried if i lose my job, i won't be able to afford insurance. when i graduated from college, i lost my health insurance. the minute i got sick, i lost my insurance. not anymore. not anymore. not anymore. america's healthcare reforms change lives for the better. to find out how it can help you, visit us at americasfairhealthcare.org it's not just fair, it's the law. after working with these men and women picking beans, packing corn for hours on end side by side in the unforgiving sun, i have to say, and i do mean this sincerely, please don't make me do this again.

it is really hard. when you're picking beans, you have to bend over. if we can put a man on the moon, why can't we make the earth waist high. come on. where is the funding? >> that was comedian stephen colbert testifying last week. he was invited to appear before the committee because he spent a day last month -- i don't understand this, wiley. he spent a day last month picking vegetables on the farm in upstate new york. >> on his comedy show. >> that's why they picked him to do this. unconfused. colbert's written statement which he submitted -- when it was his turn to speak on friday, he slipped into character. >> this is america. i don't want a tomato picked by a mexican.

i want it picked by an american, then sliced by a guatemalan and served by a venezuelan in a spa where a chilean gives me a brazilian. because my great grandfather did not travel across 4,000 miles of the atlantic ocean to see this country overrun by immigrants. he did it because he killed a man back in ireland. that's the rumor. i don't know if that's true. i'd like to have that stricken from the record. >> did you think it was appropriate that he testify today? >> of course i think it's appropriate. he's an american. he came before the committee. he has a point of view. he can bring attention to an important issue like immigration. i think it's great. >> i think his testimony was not appropriate. i think it was an embarrassment for mr. colbert more than the house. >> he should not have been called? >> i don't know about whether he was called. what he had to say was not the way it should have been said. >> i wonder if this is maybe

part of the disconnect between washington and the rest of the world. >> this does not reflect well on the united states congress for reasons different -- the fact that they don't have a sense of humor. >> i want to know how this happened, who sat at the meeting and said, i got a good idea, let's bring in stephen colbert. >> why, why, why? up next, how transforming a school district can change an entire community. the president of the los angeles urban league is here. later, the star of hbo's "entourage" joins us on the set. keep it right here on "morning joe." ♪

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among 30 developed countries we rank 25 in math and 26 in science. in almost every category we've fallen behind. except one, kids from the usa rank number one in confidence. >> that's confident. joining us now. >> misplaced confidence. blair taylor is with us. one of the things that urban league is involved with and something we haven't talked about as much during this conversation is parental involvement. >> right. >> and how important that is and howdy that can be in certain areas, especially urban areas. >> very much of a challenge, but critical. we have to start looking at education solutions from the bottom up versus the top down which means involving the community, involving parents, making sure teachers and students are involved in the solutions that we design. so traditionally what we've had is top-down management from a

school district that would either at a local level, local school district or citywide school district that would be naming the mandates, outlining what curriculum is, planning for budget. what we're seeing now that is most effective is when you turn some of that back over to the school and let them make local decisions on curriculum or budget expenditures involving the students and teachers, you get a much better designed, a more customized design approach which is very, very effective. >> you are taking a look at this problem holistically. >> yes. >> one of the things that i thought was a transformative concepts in davis's movie was the fact he said, we used to look at failing school and failing neighborhoods and thought it was inevitable. >> right. >> but he's starting to say educators are starting to think maybe we have it backwards. maybe the community is failing because the school is failing, night vice versa. so how do you approach this

holistically? >> we launched a model called neighborhoods at work which focuses in on five disciplines at the same time in a 70-block area. education, meaning the school is the heart of the community. employment, meaning if people don't have jobs, it's very hard to focus on your child if you're unemployed. housing. if you're losing your home, you can't advocate for johnny down at school. you' you're focused on foreclosure, that's an issue. safety, making sure the environment around the school is safe. creating safe buffer zones for kids. >> how do i don't do that? >> we've worked closely with lapd, california highway patrol and others to create buffer zones around the school which laterally keep these kids safe walking to and from school. we had about 30% of our kids being across ted on their way to school. we've almost totally eradicated that. >> they feel safe, not only in the schools but get together the schools. >> in los angeles unified school

district about a third of the kids are suffering from ptsd, post-traumatic stress disorder. when we stopped and talked to teachers about what to do in the schools, the number one issue they identified, believe it or not, was violent crime and the crime around the schools. they said if you can't make these schools safer, we can't teach. we've worked collaboratively with these police forces and the residents, frankly, having the residents come out and water their lawns when kids are walking to and from school, believe it or not, is a way of keeping schools safe. >> tell a story about what you've seen parents do, an individual parent that it can help as an inspiration to other parents who want their schools to be better for their kids and their community. >> a parent getting involved is a critical thing. somewhere parent volunteers who have literally carried kids on their backs at school. people often ask how can i get involved, it's too big of a problem. there's so many ways, come volunteer at a school. they're always looking for

campus volunteers. get involved in after-school click lums. we've got mentoring programs where parents have gotten involved three hours a week and changed the life of a young person. there's a litany of different ways that parents can get involved. and i just encourage people to make sure you visit the campus. stop by and be present. >> blair taylor, all the best to you. thank you so much. coming up on "morning joe," "entourage" star adrian grenier. next. >> he's got a documentary as well. lord of the carry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro.

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that? >> no. >> i mean, something he or she really, really, really wanted to do, that's a different ball game. >> not at that age. >> you can have a say for such a small window of time. i personally wouldn't. >> all right. well, welcome back to "morning joe." that is the cast of "entourage" interviewed by a costar. adrian turned the cameras on them and the paparazzi for an hbo documentary "teenage paparazzo." and directing us now, adrian. >> willie, i was thinking, education nation. we're doing documentariedocumen >> yes. >> i'm a huge fan.

we're such a huge fan. >> you're not wrong. there are a lot of educational elements in the film. >> that's what i'm trying to tell willie. exactly. debuts tonight on hbo. >> tonight at 9:00 on hbo. very happy to be with the family dwen. >> a what's the concept? >> i saw this little boy. innocent, cute. with a camera twice the size of his head elbowing and vying for the shot. i was completely taken aback. i decided this is an opportunity for me to infiltrate the paparazzi, turn the cameras on them and really get to the bottom of this whole thing. >> what did you learn? >> what did i learn? talk about education. you know, i actually talked to mark crispin miller down at ncu and he was talking about, you know, how education needs to get

out of the classroom. it's important to have education in the classroom and we have to make sure we're learning all the time. we have to look at life as an opportunity to learn and that's what i did. i took a camera and went out into the world and started learning things. asked questions. get answers. >> how do you guys -- i don't want to lump you all together but how do actors in hollywood truly feel about the paparazzi? i was in a restaurant. jennifer aniston was eating dinner. came outside. a place in beverly hills and about 20 guys with the caps hiding behind trees. i thought, get a life. i mean, how do you guys -- it is a fact of life for you now. how do you deal with it? >> i mean, different actors are different kinds of famous. jennifer aniston is obviously very famous. >> you are getting there. you are getting there. >> thanks. but, you know, everybody who's famous has to deal with that. they have to deal with it in their own way. and they all have different ways of coping with it and this was

my way of trying to instead of just coping, i wanted to really reach out and try and, you know, bridge the gap. >> find any buddies in there? >> understand them any better? >> absolutely. what's -- what's unknown can be scary. you know? and the paparazzi are no different. they're often lurking. their face is hidden and now i know a lot of them by name and they smile at me now. when i see them. >> get the hell out of my bushes! you can say that now. you can say by name. >> exactly. >> they're very competitive, right? all trying to get the shot. what did you learn about the culture of whether they're competitors and colleagues and pushing each other? >> they have chosen this as a profession. you know? it's -- they have gotten themselves out from behind the desk. they're out there, you know, the thrill of the hunt. and they're excited about it.

on one hand, it's disdainful but on the other hand how can you blame them? you know? n they're out there pursuing their american dream and taking shots and they're ultimately not bad people. >> you know, let's tack about "entourage." never a spoil alert to say that "entourage's" season as a happy ending. martin will say, it's fine. see them next summer. not this year. "entourage" was very dark at the end. >> it did. >> how fun was that? >> great. waiting seven years to have an opportunity to -- >> be a strung-out drug freak laying naked next to the pool. >> i have made it. >> but i have -- i have to believe that's a lot more fun. as an actor, right? >> nice little spritz here. >> raining just a tad bit. we are supposed to ignore it. >> it's been amazing and, you know, next year's going to be

even bigger. >> oh wow. >> okay. >> talking to mark about this. >> sounds exciting. >> can't give us any hints? >> no way. wouldn't do that to you. >> all right. >> fair enough. all right. >> thank you so much. your documentary hbo tonight "teenage paparazzo" tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific time. >> can't wait to see the little kid. >> great concept. >> would you let your kid do it? >> absolutely not. >> absolutely not. >> easy one. >> yeah. up next, president obama weighs in on the state of the nation's schools in an exclusive nbc news event. you're watching "morning joe," brewing by starbucks... earn a free night! two separate stays at comfort inn or any of these choice hotels can earn you a free night -- only when you book at choicehotels.com.

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welcome back to "morning joe." it is just about the top of the hour and we are live this morning from the learning plaza at rockefeller center in new york city. this week, msnbc and nbc news are putting a spotlight on the nation's schools and how we can all help our children succeed. still with us, mark halperin, john heilemann. we'll have a special event where the president and matt lauer having a conversation on this. >> great opportunity for him to talk about something he cares about, whether it helps him politically or not, i don't think the president cares.